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Page 174 WATER SYSTEM
This wood pipe came in sections of about six feet in
length and when the line was laid under the creek at the bridge on
Courtney Street, it was not long until the joints of pipe at that
point buckled and to the amazement of the fish in the stream, this
wonderful supply of spring water flowed down the creek in place of
into the consumers' houses.
However, it had not occurred to any of the parties to
the contract that during July and August and September there was not
much rainfall in the vicinity of the springs more than 400 feet
above the level of the Borough. During the first summer after the
installation of the plant, these "large springs," failed to function
and the result was that the residents of the city were without
water, for both domestic and fire purposes; although the Borough had
44 fire hydrants located on the three miles of main, yet had a fire
occurred, the experience of i888 would have been repeated.
In 1892, the shortage of water became monotonous and
even the Council that had entered into this contract became restive
and decided that something must be done and they notified the Water
Company that the Borough rescinded its contract and it would refuse
to pay any more hydrant rental.
About that time the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company
were sinking a shaft (afterwards known as Shaft No. 1), two miles
east of the Borough, and at about 170 feet below the surface the
contractors struck a supply of water that drowned out operations and
which became very troublesome to control.
The Water Company immediately jumped at the conclusion
that there was an abundant supply of water under the ground. They
secured a piece of land along DuBois Avenue at the western Borough
limit, upon which they sank a shaft 12 feet square to a depth of 90
feet and in the bottom of this shaft they bored three holes to a
considerable depth and installed a pump, operated from a steam
boiler on the surface, to help out the supply of water.
This Water Company used the same wisdom it had employed
in locating the springs and it did not take into consideration the
geology of the country. The shaft sunk by the water company was
three miles west of Shaft No. 1 and where the coal formation came
almost to the surface. When this shaft was sunk 90 feet and the
holes bored down quite a further distance, in place of finding the
same quality of water as at Shaft No. I, the water in this shaft was
so full of mineral salts of various kinds that when it stood a short
time it smelled like rotten eggs. When left in a receptacle for a
little while the gases in the water commenced to bubble through the
water and the water became of a muddy yellowish color, and finally
the sediment would settle to the bottom of the water, which however,
did not remove the odor or improve the taste of the water.
Even this supply was not sufficient. A pump was secured
at the
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